My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 79 Blind Box
(Sorry, I forgot to set the timer. I just realized it, it's a bit late.)
"Nishimiya?"

When Xu Guoqing heard Zhou Jiye mention the West Palace, he pondered for a moment and nodded, saying, "This place is indeed suitable; the location is well chosen."

As he spoke, he glanced at Old Wen beside him and asked with a smile, "Was this your suggestion?"

"How did you guess that, kid?" Old Wen asked, slightly surprised.

"Isn't that simple?" Xu Guoqing laughed. "Back when you and your sister-in-law were dating, I remember you went there quite often. Besides, Xiaoling and Lin Daiyu are unfamiliar with Shanghai. If I didn't suggest it, then it must be you. Do you even need to guess?"

Upon hearing this, Lao Wen burst into laughter. Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying were also overjoyed. After laughing for a while, Lao Wen finally became serious and said, "Setting up a stall over there is indeed suitable, but we need to pay our respects first, which I don't know how to do. Aqing, you know a lot of people and have many connections, what do you think about this...?"

Xu Guoqing thought for a moment and nodded: "I'll try to find some connections; it shouldn't be a big problem. By the way, who's going to pick up the goods tomorrow?"

“I’ll go!” Zhou Jiye replied without hesitation.

“I’ll go too!” Lin Ying chimed in, and even Lao Wen couldn’t wait to say he’d go as well.

"Sister Lin, you don't need to go. Wen-ge, Xiao-ling, and I are enough," Xu Guoqing said. Lin Ying was about to speak when Xu Guoqing waved his hand and said, "What would you, a woman, do there? We men can handle the moving. Besides, you're not going because there's something for you to do. The three of us are enough for the warehouse."

"Brother Qing, what do you need me to do?"

Xu Guoqing got up and walked to the side, opened the drawer of the chest of drawers, took out a key and handed it to Lin Ying: "When the goods arrive, there must be a place to store them, otherwise we can't just take them home, right? This is the key to the small warehouse behind my unit. It has been idle for a long time. I went to the unit yesterday to get the key. From now on, this small warehouse will be used to store goods. When we pick up the goods, we can just bring them over and put them there. It will be much more convenient for both receiving and storing goods in the future."

"The company's small warehouse? This...?" Lin Ying took the keys and asked with some concern.

"Don't worry." Xu Guoqing smiled. "This small warehouse has been vacant for several years. I just spent some money to rent it. Besides, I have a good relationship with the leaders in my unit. No one usually goes there. There won't be any safety issues with storing things there."

"Understood!" Lin Ying readily agreed, stuffing the keys into her pocket. "Then I'll go straight to the small warehouse tomorrow and clean it up before you arrive?"

"Okay, that's it!" Xu Guoqing gave Lin Ying an approving look, then discussed with Zhou Jiye and Lao Wen, asking them to bring some ropes for tying up goods when they went over tomorrow.

Ten items—not a lot, but not a little either. Logically, a car or a tricycle would be the most suitable, but it's hard to borrow one. The restaurant's tricycles are usually not suitable for carrying dishes with a strong odor. However, all three of them have bicycles, and they're all 28-inch models. Three bicycles should be enough to carry the goods. After discussing it, everyone decided on this plan, agreed on a time and place to meet the next day, and then parted ways for the time being.

The next morning, Lin Ying and Zhou Jiye went out together, heading in different directions as they left the residential area.

Lin Ying was going to the small warehouse that Xu Guoqing had mentioned to make preparations, while Zhou Jiye had to meet with Xu Guoqing and Lao Wen before going to the train station to pick up the goods.

After the breakup, Lin Ying arrived at the location quickly by bike. After parking, she took a walk around the area. Just as Xu Guoqing had said, the location was right behind the restaurant where they had first met and talked with Xu Guoqing. It was a very secluded place with hardly anyone around.

I took out my key and opened a door, which led to the small storage room. Although it was called a small storage room, it was actually quite spacious, about fifty square meters. However, apart from a window near the left wall, there was only one entrance. Perhaps because it had been vacant for a long time, the storage room was full of dust, and there was a pile of messy garbage in the corner. There was also an unpleasant smell in the air.

Without saying a word, Lin Ying started cleaning up, sweeping and clearing away the clutter. After working for more than two hours, as the small warehouse gradually became clean, Lin Ying, who was sweating profusely, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as Lin Ying finished and was checking the rusty door hinges to make sure the warehouse door was secure, a crisp bicycle bell suddenly rang out.

Looking up, I saw Xu Guoqing leading the way, followed closely by Lao Wen, with Zhou Jiye at the very back. The three of them each rode a bicycle, with several large cardboard boxes tied to the sides and middle of the magazine racks on both sides of the bicycles. Zhou Jiye's bicycle had four cardboard boxes tied to it, which, when stacked up, were almost as tall as he was on the bicycle. Xu Guoqing and Lao Wen each had three cardboard boxes, making a total of ten items, not a single one missing.

Hearing the noise, they rushed out and just then they arrived at the small warehouse and parked their bikes.

"Everything went smoothly?" Lin Ying asked, looking at the large cardboard boxes loaded in the car.

"Smooth sailing!" Zhou Jiye grinned, holding the cart with one hand and patting the cardboard box tied to it with the other.

"Is the warehouse cleaned up?" Xu Guoqing asked.

"Everything's ready, just push the car in."

"go!"

Xu Guoqing called to everyone, and the three of them pushed the car and the goods into the warehouse one after another. After they entered the warehouse, Lin Ying looked around to make sure no one was around before returning to the warehouse and closing the warehouse door behind her.

The warehouse was poorly lit to begin with, but there were lights on. And Lin Ying had even replaced the bulb with a new high-wattage one while cleaning, so everything was still clearly visible under the light.

Once inside the warehouse, the three of them parked the car to the side and immediately began untying the ropes. After untying them, they carried the cardboard boxes off the car and stacked them on the ground.

Ten large cardboard boxes were neatly stacked. These items weren't a huge amount, but they weren't a small amount either, and they were bought with real money—a full three thousand yuan by Zhou Jiye and his team. Three thousand yuan was no small sum. Considering the current average income of thirty-six yuan per person, it was equivalent to seven years' wages for an ordinary worker. Moreover, this trip to Lingnan, including round-trip transportation costs, shipping fees, travel expenses, and bribes, had essentially wiped out all the money Zhou Jiye and Xu Guoqing had on them.

Now that the goods have been delivered, the time to see the outcome is fast approaching. Looking at the cardboard box containing the unknown contents, everyone's hearts pounded involuntarily.

"open?"

Xu Guoqing looked at everyone and broke the brief silence with his words.

"open!"

Old Wen gritted his teeth. Success or failure hinged on this moment, just like rolling dice; whether it came up big or small depended on the result.

Zhou Jiye and Lin Ying were the same; everyone stared intently at the cardboard boxes, secretly praying that these "blind boxes" would yield good items.

“You’re the eldest brother, you drive!” Xu Guoqing said to Lao Wen, taking out his boning knife from his pocket and handing it to Lao Wen.

After taking the knife, Lao Wen hesitated for a moment, then looked at Zhou Jiye and said, "I haven't been having much luck lately... I keep losing at cards these past few days. How about we let Xiao Ling do it?"

Zhou Jiye shook his head with a bitter face: "No, no, my luck isn't good either. Why don't you play, Brother Qing?"

"You guys..."

Xu Guoqing was both amused and exasperated. These two guys had been making excuses all along, but now that it was time to back down, they were both backing down. Just as he was also hesitating, Lin Ying suddenly reached out and took the boning knife from Lao Wen's hand, then rolled up her sleeves and said, "Three grown men still doing superstition? If you won't do it, I will!"

"call……."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Ying taking over the task made them feel much more relaxed. The pressure of opening blind boxes was just too great. If they got good ones, that would be fine, but if they didn't, they wouldn't know how to explain it!

Lin Ying wasn't under any pressure from them. She picked up the boning knife and walked towards the cardboard boxes. When she got there, she first cut open the tape wrapped around the first cardboard box, then slashed the seal and opened the box.

"What's inside?" At this moment, Zhou Jiye and the others craned their necks to watch and couldn't help but ask.

"This is...? Jeans?" Lin Ying said, reaching inside to pull out a pair of pants wrapped in a plastic bag, examining them carefully under the light.

"Jeans?" The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Since it was jeans, this box of stuff was definitely worth it. Jeans were a trendy item these days, and they were extremely rare on the market, especially flared jeans, which were particularly popular among young people.

Lin Ying unwrapped the plastic bag in front of everyone and took out the jeans. When the jeans were revealed, everyone laughed.

These jeans are a great style, the latest flared style with wide legs and a tight crotch. Plus, the brass buttons gleam under the light, and the unique fabric and design of the jeans—these are some good stuff! Wearing them out on the street will definitely dazzle a lot of people.

"How many are in this box? What are the sizes?" Old Wen asked eagerly.

"Take them all out and let me see!" Xu Guoqing said from the side. Zhou Jiye immediately took over and helped Lin Ying take out the items one by one, carefully examining the tags on each item to confirm the brand and size.

The box contained a total of forty-five pairs of jeans, half of which were Billy jeans and the other half were Apple jeans.

They didn't know whether these two brands were authentic or not, and they couldn't tell the difference anyway, but judging from the embossed patterns and English letters on the gleaming bronze plaques on the back, they looked quite legitimate.

Zhou Jiye and his team sourced the goods from Macun, spending 300 yuan per item. This means the cost of this box of jeans was about 6.7 yuan per pair. If we add in the travel expenses, shipping fees, and other costs, let's say 7 yuan per pair, which is a pretty good price.

Currently, the exchange rate in Hong Kong is not high, roughly 1 to 0.25 RMB. On the black market, it can be exchanged for 1 to 0.35, with a maximum of 0.4. In other words, if converted to Hong Kong currency, this pair of pants would cost about 27 Hong Kong dollars.

In the early 1980s, the income gap between Hong Kong and the mainland was not too large. Even for Hong Kong locals working in companies, the monthly salary was basically around HK$1,000, which was less than RMB300.

Therefore, from this perspective, Hong Kong goods are quite competitive in terms of price. Moreover, Hong Kong has an extremely developed garment and small commodity industry, so these items are naturally not expensive.

Xu Guoqing secretly estimated that, based on the current market price of jeans, this trendy item was not only in high demand but also commanded a good price. If a pair of jeans was sold for twenty to twenty-five yuan, the profit would be thirteen to eighteen yuan.

Selling all 45 pairs of jeans would yield a profit of at least 585 yuan, and in some cases, over 600 yuan. This means that an investment of 300 yuan would yield a profit of 200 yuan, which is quite good. This completely put Xu Guoqing's mind at ease, as he had been worried about the quality of the goods.

(End of this chapter)